Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about war and conflict in art and paying particular interest to textiles.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to create your own templates from a drawing.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are applique, template, trace.

I'm going to say those again and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Applique.

Template.

Trace.

Good job.

Now, let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions.

Applique is where pieces of fabric are cut into shapes and then sewn onto another fabric.

A template is a shape or pattern you can trace around.

And trace means to copy the shape or outline of something by drawing around it.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson, tracing templates from a drawing and pinning, cutting and joining fabric.

In this first learning cycle, we'll explore tracing templates from a drawing.

Now, you might remember making a design for an arpillera.

Here's an example of one here.

Now, you can use your design to help you create fabric pieces for your applique.

To ensure the pieces of your design join together neatly, you can use your design to create templates.

Templates are shapes or patterns made from paper, cardboard or plastic that you can place on fabric to help you cut the fabric into the right size and shape.

You can see some examples of some templates here.

We've got the ship, the houses, the roof, so all the different elements of our arpillera.

Textile artists might use templates for applique, because using a template is quicker than drawing or measuring each shape by hand.

And when repeating shapes, templates keep everything looking the same.

Templates also help artists cut fabric shapes that are the right size and shape every time.

And artists can try out different layouts using paper or card templates before beginning to sew.

So there are lots of useful reasons that textile artists use templates for applique.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Textile artists might use templates for applique because templates allow for random freehand cutting, they ensure accuracy and repeatability in designs, they help artists cut fabric shapes that are the right size and shape every time.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about which of these would help to finish this sentence.

Is it A, B or C? And press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said both B and C, you're absolutely right.

Textile artists might use templates for applique, because they ensure accuracy and repeatability in designs and they can help artists cut fabric shapes that are the right size and shape every time.

Well done.

Now, you might choose to draw over the shapes in your design.

This will make the lines that you trace clearer.

So here, can you see how I've drawn over and traced those shapes that are on the design? We've got the aeroplane, we've got flames.

We've got the ocean, the boat, the house and even the roof separate.

Now, you might simplify some shapes.

So rather than cutting out all the houses separately, Izzy says, "I drew over the shape of all of the houses and I can then use embroidery to make the individual houses clear later." So can you see there's at least three houses or so there? Izzy has just traced over the main shape.

She's going to use embroidery later to make those individual houses clear.

It's important to trace over each shape separately to make individual fabric pieces.

So here we've got a couple of different shapes for the boat.

Izzy says, "I'm making my ship from a single piece of grey and a piece of black.

I will trace each shape separately." So that's why she's got that long, thin piece that's going to be the black felt.

So she wants a different shape for that to go on top of the ship.

Now, with so many separate pieces, it can become easy to lose track of which piece you intended to use where.

What could you do to solve this problem? Hmm.

Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? How could you solve this problem? Well, like Izzy says, you could label each template, so you can work out where it goes later on.

So once your pieces are labelled, you can cut them out.

Can you see on here we've got walkway, we've got fire, we've got boat? So each of those have been labelled so they can't get misplaced or confused.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which image shows the last step in making templates from a drawing? Is it A, B or C? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that the image that shows the last step in making templates from a drawing is A, you're absolutely right.

Labelling your templates helps to ensure you can place them correctly later and B shows the step where you outline the simple shapes, and C shows the tracing of individual pieces for the templates.

This now brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to first of all trace templates from a drawing.

So draw over the shapes in your design to make the lines you will trace clearer.

Then you might simplify those shapes and then trace over each shape separately to make templates for individual fabric pieces.

Then label each template so you can work out where it goes later on.

And finally, cut out your templates so you've got each of them there to be able to create the fabric pieces.

Remember, we use paper first so we can plan, test and adjust our design before stitching.

It's easier to spot mistakes, fix details and make sure our lines are clear.

Once it's on fabric, it's much harder to change.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at going through each of the elements to trace those templates from your drawing and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, you might have used your drawing to trace your templates and simplified some of your shapes like the houses here, maybe you've done them all together so that you can do the individual embroidery later on.

And hopefully you've cut your pieces separately.

So if you wanted the ship to be mainly grey, but also to have a black section, then you've got those two separate pieces to be able to do that.

So well done for having a go at tracing your templates from your drawing.

Make sure to keep your paper template safe in your sketchbook or maybe even a zip wallet so you can reuse or refer to it later on.

This now brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to have a go at pinning, cutting and joining fabric.

Now, once you've cut your templates, you can pin them to your fabric.

So you can see here we've got this lovely orange colour and it says houses, and we've pinned that word to the fabric.

Pinning before cutting allows you to adjust the placement of your templates.

Pinning your templates to your fabric allows you to keep the template in place while you trace or cut around it.

When pinning your templates, you need to be very careful of the position of your fingers.

Now, place your template on your fabric.

Then push your pin through your template and fabric.

Then push the end of the pin back up through the fabric and the template.

And can you see, look closely there on that third image.

Your fingers are out of the way and you're coming back up through the fabric and the template.

If you're finding pinning really tricky, a small bit of masking tape at the corners can work well too, and it's easy to peel off.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Templates do not need to be pinned to fabric.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that's false, you're absolutely right, but why is that statement false? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you discuss? Maybe you said something like, "Pinning before cutting allows you to adjust the placement of your templates." Well done.

Imagine cutting this template out.

Can you spot the problem with how this template has been pinned? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

Could you spot the problem? Well, here, the template has been pinned in the centre of the fabric.

This makes it harder to use the leftover fabric for something else.

So textile artists will try not to waste fabric, so they'll pin templates to the edge of the fabric, like it is here.

Can you see if how when you're cutting round this, you'll have all of that leftover fabric you could use for something else? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which image shows the best placement for the template, A, B, or C? Pause the video here and have a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said B, you're absolutely right.

In this image, the least amount of fabric will be wasted and larger pieces will be left to use for something else.

So well done.

Now, next arrange your fabric pieces together on your felt.

Adjust them if necessary.

And once your templates are pinned to your fabric, you can cut your pieces out and try to keep as close to the template as possible.

So can you see on each of these pieces, we've got the ship on the grey, the fire on the red, the sea is on the blue and we've got these different versions of the templates on the black here, like the aeroplane? So do remember to cut slowly and steadily around the curves to keep your edges neat and remember to keep the leftover pieces of the felt, because they're great for adding details or decorations later on.

So you can see on the sea there, once we cut round the template, there'll be that excess bit of blue that we can use for later on.

Now, you can glue the fabric down using a small amount of PVA glue applied with a glue spreader.

If too much glue is used, it can be harder to sew later on.

So just a little bit.

Once you have glued, press the fabric down gently and hold it for a few seconds to help it grip.

And remember to leave your work to dry flat and undisturbed so it doesn't wrinkle or peel.

Now, start by glueing the lower layers of fabric before glueing the top layers.

So the brown walkway is the bottom layer, so that needs to be glued first.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which step is missing from this process? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, if you said it's pinning templates, you're absolutely right.

And it's important, because pinning templates helps to ensure your pieces are accurate.

So this brings us to our second learning task.

I'd like you to pin, cut and join your fabric pieces.

Remember to pin your templates to your fabric first, then cut out your fabric, keeping as close to the template as possible.

Then glue your pieces together, starting with the bottom layers of fabric.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at pinning, cutting and joining your fabric pieces and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Did you find any of these elements tricky? Or which bit did you enjoy the most? Well, you might have pinned your templates to your fabric and then glued your pieces together, starting with the bottom layers of fabric, like this brown walkway here.

And hopefully you cut out your fabric keeping as close to the template as possible, so it really looks like the shape that you wanted to create, like this ship here.

So well done for having a go at pinning, cutting and joining fabric.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about creating templates for fabric from drawings.

Templates can be used to cut the right size and shape of fabric for applique.

To avoid wasting fabric, an artist can pin templates to the edge of the fabric.

And pinning the template to fabric helps keep it in place while the artist traces or cuts around it.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you then.